The University of York and Institute of Historical Research are delighted to announce a major new collaboration with the Palace of Westminster. The AHRC-funded project ‘St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster: Visual and Political Culture, 1292-1941′ (£976,296)brings together a team of historians and art historians to research a building which was successively a royal chapel, the House of Commons, and the ceremonial entry-way to Parliament.

Principal Investigator Dr John Cooper explains: ‘This is an unprecedented opportunity to explore the significance of a space which has been at the heart of public life since the thirteenth century. The welcome from the modern-day Palace of Westminster has been wonderful.’ The research will feed into a digital reconstruction of St Stephen’s in its successive roles, modelled by the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture. Co-Investigators are Dr Tim Ayers and Professor Miles Taylor; the project runs for three years from October 2013.